WHY SHE'LL BE VP:

Condi Rice's poise under fire ignites sparks of pride in women (Laura Berman, April 11, 2004, The Detroit News)

On Tigers' Opening Day, Gael Sandoval, a Royal Oak events planner, sat in her parked Volvo convertible outside a Birmingham market, top down, windows up, radio on.

But the voice drifting into the parking lot, keeping Sandoval riveted, belonged to Condoleezza Rice.

"I've already watched her all morning on TV," said Sandoval, who said she admired the way Rice was holding up under the scrutiny of the September 11 commission hearing Thursday.

Would Sandoval have watched Rice had she been another male government official? "I'll have to think about that," she said, "but maybe not."
For women around the area, the surprising tug of Rice's testimony went largely unspoken and unreported -- but you could watch it, see it, feel it.
Women especially wanted to see how a woman -- and in particular, this very powerful one -- would hold up to a barrage of carefully honed questions and international scrutiny.

You could argue that you were watching the most powerful woman in the world. Whether she wilted like a pansy in June heat or stayed cool, it was a moment to watch because it would reverberate, perhaps even trickle down, if she failed.

Oh, yes, we should be past this sort of discussion by now. In 2004, you might argue, gender and race aren't relevant to the proceedings. The point is to get at the truth: what went on, and possibly went wrong, at government's highest levels.

And yet, at Lolita's on Livernois -- where Lolita Haley's reputation as a salon proprietor extends from hair and nails to astute commentary on matters personal and political -- two TVs were tuned in nonstop to Rice's testimony, and there was a current of delight in her competence that fought with the larger questions.

If bad boyfriends and bad hair are typically the hottest topics here, on Thursday the topic was Condi Rice's poise. Yes, her politics are at odds with a clientele that ranges from unenthusiastic to contemptuous of the Bush administration. But they watched her Thursday with the avid interest millions reserve weekly for the last five minutes of "The Apprentice."